The Furry Cornelius Family Members

I was going to title this "The 4-legged Cornelius Family Members" but then realized that Lucy is the only one left with 4 legs! As many of you know, Shelby lost her leg 3 years ago to a broken femur that would not stay on a pin. Buffalo lost his leg this summer to a broken ACL that led to a sore on his foot that got infected. We decided that at his age and with his health, amputation was the best option. They are now a "matched pair" as they are both missing their back right leg. Here are some recent pictures of all of the furry ones in our house!

Lucy on her favorite perch, the water machine. She likes to look out of the window at the dogs in the yard and chase the water drops down the side of the bottle. She still only weighs 6 pounds. She is now about 6 1/2 years old. She has lived with us for 6 years, this month.

Buffalo is rapidly losing the color in his face to gray, but he still has the energy of a puppy now and then! At 11 years old, we are glad to still see the puppy when he comes out! In his retirement, he enjoys walks on his leash, but can only go around the block. His favorite kind of walk is the self-guided kind. He has eaten (yes, eaten, not broken) the same board out of the fence twice now and has befriended many of the new neighbors! He first escaped from the "Buffalo Proof" yard when I was in Nebraska for my reunion. The poor house sitter thought he was fired! I am not sure if he is going to continue to retrieve for Jim on waterfowl hunts this year. He can still swim, but not as well as he could. I worry about him in any form of water with a current! Upland game is definitely out since he can hardly walk around the block anymore.

Buffalo's favorite indoor activity is looking out the screen door window. As you can see from the number of nose prints on it, he does this as often as possible!

Shelby is still a puppy at heart. She will be 8 years old on Dec. 6th. I can't believe that it was 5 years ago when we saw her pretty face on the NBRAN website and fell in love! She is as sassy as ever. She promptly told me what she thought of having her picture taken through a series of "woos" after the flash went off! Her favorite activity remains hunting birds. She is forever stalking and pointing something in the yard, in the house (usually Lucy) or on walks. She has a very stylish point and a good bird sense.

Shelby waiting patiently for dinner.

The animals all know that something is up in the house. They inspect every new baby item that comes in. Buffalo has a habit of sticking his head into strollers when we are on walks and giving whatever is in the stroller great big kisses so we know he likes kids. Shelby, we will find out how she does. She doesn't seem to mind kids, but also doesn't go out of her way to hang out with them. Lucy just likes anything warm that will cuddle with her, so I think she will be fine with Lindy!